Hulu's Paid Subscription Service Inches Toward Reality

Video streaming site Hulu has been home to free clips and television episodes for nearly two years, but it’s been working on implementing a paid subscription service for a while. According to previous reports, the proposed changes won’t completely eliminate free content from the site; the five most recent episodes of shows will remain free, but users will have to pay around $9.95 per month for other episodes and seasons.

Bloomberg reports that Hulu is in talks with CBS Corp., Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc. to add television shows to the website’s paid subscription service to attract more customers, according to unnamed sources involved in the talks. The website would have to renew rights to many programs by the end of the year anyway.

Before, Hulu has made most of its income from advertising; lately, though, companies have been pulling shows, so the most viable option of expanding their library is by offering a paid subscription service.